Thinking Big

Nick is thinking big about new ideas for Cincinnati. The arts district I believe is one that is well on its way, but hinges most on reducing crime on Vine Street and Washington Park. Leaving off the Banks on the list is very interesting. I would have added development around Fountain Square too, but that doesn't need much backing, it is beyond the development stage.

More Bigotry

Pure bigotry was laid on the city by the anti-gay group CCV and their bigot in chief, Phil Burress.

Before any of the usual suspects gets out there and whines about the "bigot" use, why don't you ask yourself in the this case Phil Burress and his gang is fighting the amendment to the Discrimination Ordinance? Why don't they fight the whole law? Why just the part that tries to help gays and lesbians? Hmmmm, I wonder why they want to allow discrimination against gays, but not against say blacks or Christians? Why motivates that? I wonder????

Overreaction

It is not surprising to me, but the Enquirer has called for the firing of NKU professor Sally Jacobsen, who was involved with the dismantling of the anti-abortion religious display on the NKU grounds.

This will likely be the first voice from the right wing for this, it will not be the last. NKU appears weak, and will cave if Kentucky lawmakers jump on the bandwagon. NKU is in the middle of an expansion and will not stand up for a teacher giving them horrible press.

Kabaka Oba Dead

The Enqurier is reporting that Kabaka Oba died earlier today.

Mayor Mallory has issued the following statement:

"I want to express my deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of Kabaka Oba. I have known Kababa for many years. Even though he was seen as controversial, some of the ideals that he talked about like economic inclusion, equality, and justice cannot be disputed and should be embraced by us all."

I personally found Oba's views to be abhorrent, adding nothing but hate to our local political discourse, but no human being deserves to be murdered.

Tainting the Jury Pool?

Is this an attempt to taint the jury pool in the Howard Beatty case? Is this a backdoor attempt by the defense to try and sell their fruitless self-defense strategy?

Bad Debate at NKU

A pox on both sides from me. This anti-abortion display should never have been erected on a public university's grounds. It is a religious display and demonstrates where 99.9% of the anti-abortion motivation is sourced.

That being said, the professor and students involved should not have removed the display in the manner they did. They should have protested it being there and sued to have it removed. In the article NKY's President refers to it as the destruction of property, that is over the top, but what was done was the wrong way to handle it. It is a form of protest, and they can argue a 1st Amendment defense, but the freedom of speech clause may not be their best bet.

This sounds like it would have been much simpler to have the anti-abortion side hold a protest, with temporary crosses while they are there, but be forced to remove them when the protest ended. If that was what was supposed to happen, well, then the students just helped clear the grounds of discarded items.

None of this improves the situation. It will just drive a bigger wedge into the growing cultural gap in our society. That I fear is the goal of many on the anti-abortion side.

UPDATE: The Post has more. The most interest element here is that a police report valued the crosses at $600. Now if that is true, then why they hell didn't these anti-abortionists cut to the chase and buy $600 worth of condoms and pass those out on campus? They would have a great protest cheer: "Reduce Abortions by reducing unwanted pregnancies!" Instead they turn to symbols instead of actions that could actually have results.

UPDATE #2: Nice to see the anti-abortionists seeking to turn the other cheek. Oh wait, lol. This story from the NKU paper has photos of the destruction. The professor involved looks, shall we say, nutty! I will repeat something I post in comments. If a group of students is not allowed to erect a 6 foot penis, or, for that matter, take 400 dildos and plant them in the ground, then there is a clear violation of the 1st Amendment.

UPDATE #3: The AP has the story, so this should be making the talk radio rounds in the coming week. Once Bill O'Reily gets a chance, he will drag this thing out till the cows come home to roost.

Howard Beatty Charged with Shooting Oba

Self Defense is the reported defense.

It is most telling seeing the varied reactions. From the near ranting of Nate to the foolish post at the Beacon, this was a big event in the City. How quickly Nate has turned on someone who was his steadfast ally.

What I find most offensive is how on Television last night the story at WLWT was painting Oba as a nice guy who is likeable and pleasant. They failed to mention his past anti-Semitic and anti-white remarks that came out of his mouth nearly every time he called into 1230 AM's call-in shows. I can understand not attacking the man while he clings to life, but that does not mean you have to put a package together that equates a self professed black-separatist to a civil rights leader.